Kenya African National Union

The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a conservative political party in Kenya that was founded on 14 May 1960. Jomo Kenyatta became the leader of the KANU party, and he led it after Kenyan independence in 1963; after 1969, KANU became the only political party in the country, as it banned all opposition parties. It had various ideologies upon its foundation, but the party pursued market economic policies after Oginga Odinga and his left-wing faction left the KANU in 1965. During the Cold War, the KANU steered Kenya to align with the United States, and it accused political opponents of being pro-Soviet to justify censoring them. The party ruled Kenya consecutively from 1963 to 2002, and it was led by Kenyatta's son Uhuru Kenyatta until 2012, when he joined the Jubilee Party of Kenya.